Traditional, covalently cross-linked hydrogels which comprise a class of soft materials that bind and retain large amounts of water and exhibit broadly tunable mechanical properties have limited utility because their irreversible crosslinks do not allow for stimuli-responsive aqueous viscosity modification or the ability to rearrange their shape in response to applied stress (Appel et al., 2012a).
Recent advances in supramolecular chemistry and materials science have introduced moldable polymeric systems as unique solutions to many critical industrial challenges (Appel et al., 2012a; Rodell et al., 2015). Due to the exploitation of specific and tunable non-covalent interactions, moldable polymeric systems, in contrast to covalently cross-linked hydrogels, exhibit viscous flow under shear stress (shear-thinning) and rapid recovery when the applied stress is relaxed (self-healing) which allows for precise tuning of their flow properties to meet the engineering requirements for diverse applications, including injection, pumping, or spraying.
Although many industrial applications would benefit from moldable polymeric systems that facilitate administration by flow, injection, pumping or spraying, there is a recognized shortage of moldable polymeric systems that not only allow finely tunable control over their mechanical properties, but that can also be scaled up, and be produced cost-effectively and environmentally friendly.
It would be highly desirable to rationally engineer a scalable biopolymeric system that combines readily available, inexpensive and non-toxic components in such a way that they transiently and reversibly self-assemble and so allow control and adjustment to a variety of engineering requirements. The present invention addresses this need.